A major audit published today also reveals that almost half of hospitals lack senior specialists at weekends.

And just two out of 165 maternity units had a consultant present round the clock, according to the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

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A major audit published today also reveals that almost half of hospitals lack senior specialists at weekends. Stock image

Mothers-to-be are instead left in the hands of overstretched midwives and inexperienced and often exhausted junior doctors.

Although consultants are on call from home, they can live up to 30 minutes away and staff summon them only in emergencies.

More than half of births take place out of hours. And research shows that babies born then are a third more likely to die or suffer serious complications. The royal college obtained the figures from 165 NHS maternity units – 82 per cent of the total. They show that:

Just over 73 per cent had no consultants on the weekday overnight shift, typically 10pm to 8am;

Another 43 per cent said none were on site at weekends;

89 per cent said consultants were not present for evening shifts at weekends;

Heart of England NHS trust in Birmingham and Central Manchester University were the only centres with consultants day and night, all week.

Maureen Treadwell, of the Birth Trauma Association, said: ‘We are concerned at the number of hospital trusts with no consultant cover at night.

‘There are a number of rare but sudden catastrophic events in labour where a less experienced doctor may need the advice or assistance of a senior colleague.

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‘These are not common events, but every year some women and babies will die as a result of substandard care, often from staff who are doing their best, but may never have dealt with such a condition.’

The figures are worrying because labours are becoming more complex due to obesity and the trend for women to have babies later in life.

Experts say midwives and junior doctors are less likely to spot when things go wrong and can be reluctant to summon the help of consultants.

Labour wards are also under pressure because of high birth rates fuelled by migration.

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s health spokesman, said it shows that the Tories can;t even deliver a five-day NHS

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s health spokesman, said: ‘It is crucial that maternity units are sufficiently staffed to provide a high level of care to all who use them – day or night.

‘The Tories talk about a seven-day NHS but these figures show they can’t even deliver a five-day NHS.’

Elizabeth Duff of the National Childbirth Trust said: ‘Women need safe maternity services whenever they give birth. We know more needs to be done to provide the right level of staff to give support when necessary.’

The royal college issued recommendations in 2009 stating that maternity units should work toward having consultants present round the clock.

This would improve the care of women and the training of junior staff, the guidelines stated.

Consultants are supposed to supervise the care of all patients in maternity units and intervene if something goes wrong.

A major study by Imperial College London last year found that babies delivered at the weekend were 7 per cent more likely to be stillborn.

And research published by Cambridge University in 2010 found that babies born overnight or at weekends in Scottish hospitals were a third more likely to die.

MY BABY WOULD BE ALIVE TODAY IF I'D HAD HER IN THE WEEK

Angela Owens (pictured with baby Hope) believes her daughter Ella would be alive today had she given birth on a weekday

Angela Owens believes her daughter Ella would be alive today had she given birth on a weekday.

She was two weeks overdue when she felt severe and sudden pain on a Saturday afternoon four days before Christmas 2013.

The 31-year-old went to the labour ward at Warrington Hospital, describing it as a ghost town.

Midwives repeatedly told her to go home and take paracetamol – and ignored her pleas for a consultant.

Eventually – after her GP brother arrived – they bleeped the consultant but by this stage it was too late.

When Ella was finally delivered on 11pm on the Saturday she was stillborn. The mother, who has two other daughters with her partner Paul, said: ‘There was a general flippant attitude towards me,’

‘You put your trust in health staff in these situations, but I had to beg them for help.

‘Hospitals seem to go into sleep mode at the weekends and for us this resulted in the ultimate tragedy. It was horrendous. I will never recover from her death.’

Ella was one of ten babies who had been stillborn or died in unexplained circumstances at Warrington Hospital in a 12-month period between 2013/14. The deaths were avoidable and blamed on staffing shortages – half occurred at weekends.

The authors said the same would be true for English hospitals. They blamed the extra risks on a lack of intervention by junior doctors.

NHS figures show that doctors performed almost 40 per cent of births in 2014/15 and midwives do most of the remainder. They do not state whether the former were consultants or junior doctors. But the figure has steadily increased from 24 per cent in 1989.

An NHS England spokesman said: ‘Having a baby is now safer than it has ever been and the vast majority of mothers report that they get great NHS maternity care.’

The spokesman highlighted a study last year that claimed there was no evidence to show overnight consultants made any difference to safety.

But he refused to acknowledge other research showing babies born out of hours were more likely to die.

Tomorrow the NHS will publish its first-ever Ofsted-style ratings for maternity care in a bid to drive up standards.

Each of the 209 health boards will be given a grading, from outstanding down to inadequate, based on safety records and women’s experiences.